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I have mixed feelings about releasing this, but to be honest, I feel like I owe to at least a few people here (I owe them more than that, and I still struggle with that debt, but that’s a conversation for another time).

In college, I had an extreme ambition to do something no one else had done, and although I finished it, it took a great deal out of me. This film could have gone a hundred different ways, and I chose the most difficult path…I wouldn’t do it the same way again, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it the way I did it, either. I was a student doing something I shouldn’t have been allowed to do – very much the story of my life.

I’ve wanted for a long time to be able to show this as a finished product to everyone that contributed, but I wanted to do it the way that I promised, and I can’t say that will ever materialize in the way that I originally envisioned it (much like the film). That said, the spirit of the story, and Frank Herbert, is unmistakable in the film and it’s message, and releasing the work of so many people is something that is long overdue.

I put this on vimeo as a screener for festivals that aren’t into the whole “withoutabox” system (some of the biggest in the nation still don’t use that system). It’ll say “festival screener” across the bottom every so often, and until I send out copies to those who are supposed to have them, it’ll remain that way.

Thanks to everyone who gave me support, and stuck it out with me to the end. What has tipped me to present this in this way was something I’d read about Shane Carruth on his film “Primer”. It took him two years to finish it, and he almost abandoned it on multiple occasions. He barely returned to film after Primer was released, with the release of the film “Upstream Color”, nine years later.

Stellar performances from all of the actors: Kevin Deming, Miriam Swinehart, Jason Lawton, Tom Doyle, Shawn Rickell, and Jon Diack. Many thanks to Aaron Saye, Jessica Paddock, and Dylan Blair, and the Herbert Estate – I couldn’t have done this without you. And for everyone else I did not mention, you have in no way been forgotten, I’m just not gifted with concision, and this post is already too damn long.

So, here you go: Frank Herbert’s Cease Fire, in full for anyone who wants to view it:

A little about the story…

Cease Fire is a short story originally published in January 1958's edition of Astounding Science Fiction Magazine, and written by the world renown author of the Dune series, Frank Herbert. This short story is now being made into a short student film, adapted for the screen and directed by Jacob Collins.